CHURCH IN IRAQ
HELPS REBUILD NEW ORLEANS PARISH
U.S. Relief Agency Helps
Bridge Unique Partnership
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
Monday, September 26, 2005
TULSA, OK (ANS) -- A
small church in Iraq is providing aid to hurricane victims in the
United States. The 300-member Christian church in Iraq’s northern
Kurdistan Governance is collecting money to help the Adullam Christian
Fellowship church -- a New Orleans church hit hard by hurricane Katrina.
“We
saw the pictures of the devastation on television,” said Rev. Hazem,
pastor of the two-year old Kurdzman Church in Iraq. “We were motivated
to help the people of New Orleans rebuild so we called our friends at
World Compassion to see how to get money to Louisiana.”
World
Compassion has been working in Iraq since U.S. forces entered Iraq. The
president and founder of the non-governmental relief agency, Dr. Terry
Law, helped start The Kurdzman Church in Iraq.
(Pictured: Dr Terry Law).
“I am overjoyed at the spirit of this little church,” said Dr. Law.
“This action demonstrates the love and compassion of Iraqi Christians.
It is also something they could never have done under Saddam Hussein’s
regime.”
The pastor of Adullam Christian Fellowship was equally surprised that a
church in Iraq was reaching out to help. “We have been destroyed,” said
Randy Millett, head of the devastated congregation in St. Bernard’s
Parish, one of the hardest hit areas of the flooding. Millett’s uncle
and aunt drowned in their home and his brother and mother-in-law are
still missing. “My wife’s mother was in St. Rita's Nursing Home where
so many elderly perished. We still don’t know if she is dead or alive.”
Millett’s Parishioners, about 350 people, are spread across Louisiana,
Texas and various other states. “We’ve been destroyed; but, we will
rebuild,” he said. “And we are grateful for our friends around the
world – including those in Iraq – who are standing with us during this
difficult time.”
ABOUT WORLD COMPASSION
Founded in 1969, World Compassion is a non-denominational, faith-based
organization in Tulsa, Okla., that conducts humanitarian aid projects
and promotes education, health, family values, and religious freedom
around the world. The group was instrumental in influencing Afghanistan
to incorporate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their
constitution in 2004. Today, World Compassion is circulating a petition
inside Iraq and on the Internet urging Iraqi officials to sign the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and guarantee religious freedom
for all Iraqis. World Compassion is asking for Christians outside Iraq
to sign the petition at
www.worldcompassion.tv.
EDITOR’S NOTE: FOR
SECURITY REASONS, WE CANNOT IDENTIFY PASTOR HAZEM’S LAST NAME. DR. LAW
AND PASTOR RANDY MILLETT ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS. DR. LAW WILL BE
TOURING LOUISIANA THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 26TH. FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Roe Ann Estevez (o) 972.267.1111 (c) 469.471.2246
Dan Wooding is an award
winning British
journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is
the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints
in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). Wooding is the
co-host of the weekly radio show, "Window on the World" and was, for
ten years a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He
also co-hosts three days a week a live phone-in show called "Pastor's
Perspective" with Brian Brodersen which is carried on KWVE, Santa Ana,
California, and other radio stations across the USA. Wooding is the
author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography,
"From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order
a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com.
danjuma1@aol.com
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